CHEMISTRY, MATERIALS & PACKAGING -
The American Cleaning Institute (ACI) released the first-ever industry materiality assessment in its 2015 Sustainability Report on Tuesday. Sustainability analytics firm Framework LLC conducted the assessment using data from across the sector’s value chain to map critical risks and opportunities, and found materials, transparency, and greenhouse gases among the top concerns for the $30 billion cleaning products industry.
STAKEHOLDER TRENDS AND INSIGHTS -
How do video games and virtual reality play into climate change action? Ask Grammy award-winning producer and musician Pharrell Williams and Oscar-winning actor and singer Jared Leto, who are trying to engage people and raise awareness through virtual media.
LEADERSHIP -
General Mills, IKEA and Best Buy are among the 81 companies to recently join the White House-led American Business Act on Climate Pledge, which sets significant greenhouse gas reduction and renewable energy sourcing goals for 2020 and beyond.The pledges focus on increasing energy efficiency, boosting low-carbon investing and making sustainability more accessible to low-income Americans.
CLEANTECH -
Toyota recently announced a set of goals to be achieved over the next 35 years, which address key global environmental issues such as climate change, water shortages, resource depletion and degradation of biodiversity.The Toyota Environmental Challenge 2050 aims to reduce the negative impact of manufacturing and driving vehicles as much as possible. The challenge is composed of six individual challenges across three areas: Ever-better cars, ever-better manufacturing and enriching lives of communities.Ever-better cars
CLEANTECH -
Equator Kenya, a food-processing company that produces African Bird’s Eye Chilies for export, has joined the Business Call to Action (BCtA) with a commitment to provide climate-smart technologies, training and market linkages to 8,000 smallholder farmers along the Kenyan coast.This business is designed to reduce the crop risks posed by climate change, which will help increase incomes among the farmers — 6,000 of whom are women — as well as improve crop yields and quality.
NEW METRICS -
New Leaf Paper founder Jeff Mendelsohn hosted a workshop on day one of Sustainable Brands’ New Metrics ’15 about an improved Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) framework that helps users make better decisions by incorporating current climate science impacts, as well as greater transparency and comparability. The framework is called LEO-SCS-002 and is in the process of being added to current LCA standards.
NEW METRICS -
Think talking about investment is always boring? Think again: This had to have been the most highly charged workshop at New Metrics ’15.
CLEANTECH -
U.S. reliance on wind, solar and other renewable sources of energy has reached historic levels and is poised to make even greater gains in the near future, according to new report by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).A Tectonic Shift in America's Energy Landscape finds that the energy sector in the United States emitted less dangerous carbon pollution last year than in 1996, with a full 10 percent reduction over the past decade. Meanwhile, coal and electricity consumption are down nationwide, while oil use today is lower than in the early 1970s, the report shows.
NEW METRICS -
Clearly, with an exploding population, rapidly accelerating fossil fuel-based consumption and climate catastrophe all looming, the current “net negative” state – whereby we extract more than we return – needs to change. The radically opposite concept – giving more than taking – is ideal.
COLLABORATION -
This week, the first draft of the new climate change agreement set for COP21, the United Nations (UN) international conference on climate change, was presented to governments. The document will act as a concise basis for negotiations for the next negotiating session, which is happening from October 19-23 in Bonn, Germany.
COLLABORATION -
The CEOs of 10 global food companies pledged to accelerate business action on climate change and urged U.S. and world leaders to form a robust international agreement at COP21 in December in a joint letter coordinated by Ceres and released yesterday.
STAKEHOLDER TRENDS AND INSIGHTS -
Despite all of the hubbub and calls to action from business leaders around Climate Week NYC and the release of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), corporate minds at large have yet to be convinced: Survey results released this week reveal that even in companies with sustainability commitments, about one-third of business leaders believe that a new agreement from COP21 in December will have
CLEANTECH -
Ninety-one percent of companies in the S&P Global 100 Index see extreme weather and climate change impacts as current or future risks to their business, but many struggle to translate long-term, global climate data into short-term and local risks, according to a new report by the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES).Despite growing access to climate-related data and tools, companies say they need “actionable science” that helps them to understand locally-specific risks or risk scenarios.
THE NEXT ECONOMY -
Last week, 10 cities presented ambitious climate action plans in accordance with the planning and reporting requirements of the Compact of Mayors.
LEADERSHIP -
Climate risks currently aren’t top-of-mind for most mainstream investors, but the potential value at risk for investment portfolios is significant, according to a new report by Preventable Surprises, a business risk think tank.
PRODUCT, SERVICE & DESIGN INNOVATION -
As part of NIKE, Inc.’s goal to reduce its environmental footprint and enable business growth, the company announced two efforts today aimed at furthering that commitment: a collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Climate CoLab to bring innovation in materials to the forefront of the climate conversation, and a commitment to reach 100 percent renewable energy in company-owned-and-operated facilities by 2025.
CLEANTECH -
CDP and We Mean Business, a business and investor coalition focused on transitioning to a low-carbon economy, have launched a new set of tools aimed at changing the conversation about effective carbon pricing policies globally, according to an announcement made on Thursday at Climate Week NYC.The Carbon Pricing Pathways Toolkit presents analysis on ways that carbon pricing levels could be ramped up over time to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions, drive innovation in new technologies and transform countries’ energy use.
COLLABORATION -
The leaders of state and regional governments, spanning North and South America, Europe and Australia, on Tuesday announced collective climate targets that would save 7.9 gigatons of equivalent carbon dioxide (GtCO2e) by 2030 — greater than the U.S.’s carbon emissions in 2012.Announced at Climate Week NYC, the pledges come from the Compact of States and Regions, a UN supported initiative that aims to drive major emissions reductions after the COP climate summit in December, where the expected deal will come into force in 2020.Altogether, the sub-national governments making up the Compact represent 10 percent of global GDP and 220 million people.
CLEANTECH -
Two initiatives for reducing businesses’ impacts on the environment have attracted globally recognized brands this week at Climate Week NYC.On Tuesday, the United Nations (UN) announced a new initiative to help businesses and individuals reduce their carbon footprints, Climate Neutral Now. An online platform will facilitate the measurement, reduction, and offset of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
BLOG -
Climate Week NYC, now in its 7th year, kicked off this week with high hopes of energizing companies, governments, academia and civil society to lead us to a low-carbon future. With more than 150 events of various sorts all over New York City — from public demonstrations and discussions outdoors, to the launch of the new UN Sustainable Development Goals, to more niche working groups and panel sessions hosted by universities, businesses and NGOs — the agenda surely looks rich and promising.